Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) Shares Sold by Heartland Advisors Inc.

Heartland Advisors Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Granite Construction Incorporated (NYSE:GVA) by 15.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 91,231 shares of the construction company’s stock after selling 16,331 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Granite Construction were worth $8,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in GVA. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC acquired a new position in shares of Granite Construction during the 4th quarter worth about $89,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Granite Construction by 193.7% in the 4th quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 1,345 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $119,000 after buying an additional 887 shares during the period. KBC Group NV lifted its position in Granite Construction by 26.6% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,751 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $154,000 after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Granite Construction by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,178 shares of the construction company’s stock valued at $191,000 after buying an additional 171 shares during the period. Finally, R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Granite Construction during the fourth quarter worth $211,000.

Granite Construction Stock Performance

Shares of GVA opened at $75.15 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.56, a current ratio of 1.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. Granite Construction Incorporated has a 52-week low of $52.99 and a 52-week high of $105.20. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $86.19. The company has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 30.42 and a beta of 1.34.

Granite Construction (NYSE:GVA) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 13th. The construction company reported $1.23 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.42 by ($0.19). The firm had revenue of $977.30 million for the quarter. Granite Construction had a return on equity of 20.67% and a net margin of 3.15%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.82 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Granite Construction Incorporated will post 5.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Granite Construction Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.13 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.52 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.69%. Granite Construction’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 21.05%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Granite Construction news, COO James A. Radich sold 2,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $87.14, for a total transaction of $217,850.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 28,256 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,462,227.84. This trade represents a 8.13 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, SVP Brian R. Dowd sold 2,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.55, for a total transaction of $165,138.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president now directly owns 13,880 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,131,914. This represents a 12.73 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 0.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Granite Construction Company Profile

Granite Construction Incorporated operates as an infrastructure contractor in the United States. It operates through two segments: Construction and Materials segments. The Construction segment engages in the construction and rehabilitation of roads, pavement preservation, bridges, rail lines, airports, marine ports, dams, reservoirs, aqueducts, infrastructure, and site development for use by the public and water-related construction for municipal agencies, commercial water suppliers, industrial facilities, and energy companies; and construction of various complex projects, including infrastructure/site development, mining, public safety, tunnel, solar storage, and power related projects.